For more information, please consult the
EFC Gopher,
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The
Searchable Index
will help you find what interests you.

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To join either list, just send a subscribe message to
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Our growing collection of legal information,
which includes copies of legislation, court decisions,
and other background documents,
has been moved onto a separate
Legal Resources Page.

Be sure to see read about cyberspace issues
that have been in the news recently by visiting our
Media Archives.

Canada's new Privacy Law

The federal government recently enacted a new privacy law
to help protect your personal information
when it is collected and shared by companies.
If you would like to learn more about this law,
which comes into effect in January, 2001,
please visit the following web page,
maintained by the
Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

No MSG!

The (ahem) "Moral Support Group" in Cambridge Ontario
is upset that the University of Waterloo recently lifted
its ban on certain controversial Usenet newsgroups.
Although the decision was ultimately made by UW president David Johnston,
noted author, educator, legal scholar,
and former chair of the federal government's
Internet Highway Advisory Council, ...
the MSG has decided to focus on outspoken free-speech advocate
and EFC co-founder, Jeffrey Shallit.

A local Christian fundamentalist and rabble rouser, Erika Kubassek,
has organized a protest calling for Jeffrey Shallit to be fired
by the University. This just ain't gonna happen.

CRTC decides not to regulate the Net

Why Kids Kill

The first thing we need to do, ...ban all black trench coats. (Not!)

``Since the kids they're supposed to be protecting know quite well
that wearing trench coats, going online, or watching movies
isn't dangerous in and of itself,
mostly what educators and journalists end up demonstrating to kids
is that they're clueless.''

To Heck with the CRTC

You might be amused by our
"Top Ten List"of changes Canadian would notice
if the CRTC were to begin regulating the Net,
that we presented to the CRTC at the "New Media" Hearings
in Hull on Thursday, November 26, 1998.

Public libraries should facilitate, rather than censor,
access to Internet

In local communities across Canada, public libraries
are finding themselves caught in the middle of a tug-of-war
over access to the Internet.
On the one hand, a few vocal parents want librarians to intervene
and block access to what they consider "inappropriate content"
that is available on the Internet.
On the other hand, free speech advocates are concerned about censorship.

Please read
EFC's recent press release
for more details.
This web page had been updated
with recent newspaper articles and other relevant documents.

Cryptography is not a weapon

Electronic Frontier Canada, together with almost 50 human rights, civil liberties, consumer protection, and computer user groups in more than 15 countries
that together comprise the Global Internet Liberty Campaign,
have issued a
joint statement
calling for the recognition of the importance for cryptography for protecting
the privacy of personal communication and the security of electronic commerce.
We are urging our respective governments to stop treating cryptography as
if it is an offensive military technology and to eliminate restrictions
on manufacture, use, and distribution of strong encryption technology.
Please read more about it in our
letter to the Dept of Foreign Affairs and Int'l Trade
and our
recent press release.

[new 18feb98, updated 27apr98]

Crypto

The Canadian federal government (through Industry Canada)
is making important changes to Canada's policy on cryptography.
Your privacy rights are at stake.
Please read our recent press releases:

56-bit DES encryption can be cracked in 3 days

The (US) Electronic Frontier Foundation designed and built
a machine for less than $250,000 that can successfully decipher
messages encrypted using the 56-bit "Data Encryption Standard".
For more info, please see the links below.

Bill C-424 (licensing ISPs) is a cynical, political ploy

Chris Axworthy's latest private member's bill, C-424,
is just a recycled version of his previous one, C-396,
that failed to get any support.
The new version of the bill calls for Internet Service Providers
to be licensed by the CRTC,
in order to protect us all from sex on the Net.
Because of its many serious flaws,
this bill will never become law.
We thought this was just a cynical political ploy last time,
and we think it's no different this time around.

What's going on with Usenet in Manitoba??

The folks at the University of Manitoba and MBNet have apparently
decided they own the wpg.* and man.* newsgroups and are
exercising what many Manitobans believe is a rather authoritarian
control over them: filtering our articles they deem inappropriate,
such as ones posted from out of province, and refusing to propogate
these newsgroups, even to some hosts within the province.

More detailed information will be posted, as it becomes available.

[new: 21aug97]

What's going on in the
West Edmonton Mall?

In what may be Canada's first domain name dispute to go to court,
the West Edmonton Mall has been granted an
interim injunction
against Stuart Martin,
preventing him from using his domain name,
westedmontonmall.com.
Here's what the press has had to say about it:
20aug97,
22aug97.

Mondex E-Cash Security: A House of Smart-Cards?

Mondex has already conceded that its electronic cash
isn't really as private as they once claimed.
Now critics are questioning whether their security
is all it's cracked up to be.
Do participating banks have any contingency plans
for what Mondex calls its "meltdown scenario"?

The CDA is dead. Film at 11.

Thursday, June 26 -- The U.S. Supreme Court today struck down
the Communications Decency Act.
The full text of there decision is
available online.

"The (Communications Decency Act) is a content-based regulation of speech.
The vagueness of such a regulation raises special First Amendment concerns
because of its obvious chilling effect on free speech."

"The CDA, casting a far darker shadow over free speech,
threatens to torch a large segment of the Internet community."

Naughty, naughty, Nottingham

Why is the County Solicitor for Nottinghamshire, England,
sending threatening and intimidating letters to Jeremey Freeman
of Penticton, British Columbia?
If you're curious, please read more about
Notthingham's Secret Shame.

Note: Finally, as of August 4th, 1997, the Nottinghamshire County Council
has backed down. Score another victory for free speech on the Net.

[new: 02apr97, updated: 1jun97]

Should political opinion surveys on the web be be illegal in Canada?

News Item:
Elections Canada is threatening 2 Internet Service Providers
because of their intention to publish political opinion surveys
on their web sites during the publication ban
the government imposes during the final 72 hours
of the federal election campaign.
Find out more on our
Elections Canada Information Page,
and read the nasty letter
received by Online Direct.

Should anonymous political web pages be illegal in Canada?

News Item:
There are now 52mirror sites
of the "Vote Green!" web page,
in 14 countries,
plus a new anonymous "Vote NDP!"
web page, with 11mirror sites
of its own.
Will there be more?

The Commissioner of Canada Elections sent a
letter
informing the apparent author of an anonymous political web page
that he is breaking the law,
and instructing him to comply with the Canada Elections Act,
with the implication that if he doesn't, he'll be charged with
an offence and face a fine of up to $1,000 or up to a year in jail.

Civil Liberties organizations protest German Compuserve action

Electronic Frontier Canada is joining together with a
coalition of international civil liberties organizations
to protest the German prosecution of Compuserve managing director,
Felix Somm, in connection with the alleged distribution of
pornorgaphy and violent games over the Internet.
Please read our
recent joint press release.

[new: 08apr97, updated: 23apr97]

Bill C-396 - an Act to license ISPs in Canada

This is not some kind of goofy April Fool's joke.
This is a genuine private member's bill
(Chris Axworthy, NDP, Saskatoon).
With the federal election on the horizon
it is extremely unlikely this bill will become law,
but we still think this bill exhibits a remarkable disregard
for freedom of expression on the Internet.
It calls for ISPs to be licensed, and allows for the Minister of Justice
to instruct ISPs to block access to sites the government doesn't like.
Failure to comply will result in a jail term.
Please read our
recent press release
and read the
text of Bill C-396
and let us know what you think.

[new: 09apr97]

Mondex - Private? Anonymous? Fully Auditable?

Mondex is an electronic payment system, based on smart-cards,
that is currently the subject of a pilot study in Guelph, Ontario.
The electronic transaction records it keeps have raised privacy concerns.
Please take a look at our Mondex information page
and let us know what you think.

[new: 26mar97, updated 28mar97]

Canadian Web Sites to be Licensed?

Free speech battle in U.S. Supreme Court

There's a battle unfolding in the U.S. Supreme Court
over the Communications Decency Act.
It's being described as the first free speech case for the 21st century.
We've gathered together a
hotlist of CDA-related web sites
you can visit to stay in touch with the proceedings as they develop.
Oral arguments were presented March 19th.
A decision is expected by July.

[new: 10feb97]

Internet in the Classroom

Should Internet connections used by students in the classroom
be free from government censorship? We think so.
To find out more, please read our
recent press release
and letter
to Ontario's Education Minister, John Snobelen.

[new 22nov96, updated 24nov96]

Federal Commission seeks to regulate Internet

Despite two years ago admitting it had no jurisdiction over the Internet,
and no jurisdiction outside Canada, the Canadian Human Rights Commission
is now taking steps to shut down Ernst Zundel's web site, which
is based in southern California.
As we learn more details, we'll add them to our
summary.

[new 08nov96, updated 14nov96]

IGS censors web page

Ottawa-area ISP,
Information Gateway Services,
decided to pull the plug on a
controversial web page
published by one of its customers.
We think they made a real mess of the situation
by acting precipitously
and issuing a press release denouncing their customer as being a criminal,
guilty of publishing hate propaganda,
and citing police as concurring.
An Ottawa Citizen article quotes the investigating police officer
as saying the material doesn't fit the Criminal Code definition of
hate propaganda.
-- oops! --
For more information,
please read our recent
press release (14nov96).

[new 15oct96, 15jan97]

Electronic surveillance of innocent people ... one step closer

The controversial new Bill C-55
has already passed second reading (Oct 7th, '96).
This is the law that would allow the court to order a person
to wear an electronic surveillance bracelet so they can be monitored
by police for up to 1 year, even if they've never committed a crime.

Read the controversial section of
Bill C-55
for yourself, along with several
related newspaper articles.
If you agree with us, and think this law is blatantly unconstitional,
we urge you to contact your Member of Parliament without delay.

[new 25jul96, updated 01aug96]

Will the government of British Columbia regulate the Internet
in an attempt to control the flow of hate propaganda?

Some proceeds from the Eden Musicfest
will benefit Electronic Frontier Canada:
Three days of fun in the sun, live alternative music,
highlights to be cybercastlive over the Internet.
Isn't this what freedom of expression is all about?!

The Eden MusicFest just finished! (July 12-14).
We hope you visited
the Live CyberCast!

Three judges of the US District Court in Pennsylvania decided on June 12th
that certain provisions of the the American Communications Decency Act
which prohibit `indecency' on the Internet are an unconstitutional
infringement on the right to free speech.
They issued a preliminary injunction preventing the US Attorney General
from ``enforcing, prosecuting, investigating, or reviewing any matter
premised upon'' certain sections of the Communications Decency Act.
This decision paves the way for the US Supreme Court to overturn the law.
Please visit
this link
for more information.

``The Real Meaning of Free Speech in Cyberspace''
Please read
Jeffrey Shallit's recent speech and learn how
cyberspace is being treated like a second class medium.

Cyberspace Charter Challenge:
When the police put you and your computer under electronic surveillance,
without prior judicial authorization,
is that a violation of your Charter Right
not to be subject to unreasonable search and seizure?
Some BBS sysops think so, and their lawyer
presented his argument
in a Québec court on Feb 15th.
A ruling was given May 3rd.

Have you heard the rumour about the Canadian Library Association
endorsing the
V-barcode
plan for classifying books?
Apparently, it's a new book rating system,
modelled after television's highly successful
V-chip.
It's been dubbed the V-barcode,
because each book will have a machine-readable "barcode"
on the spine that encodes a rating of the book's contents on several scales:
sex, violence, coarse language, drug use, religion, and
`alternative lifestyles'.
Please read more about the
V-barcode
and a related
telephone interview,
and then tell us
what you think about this proposal.

We successfully opposed Bell Canada's application for a trademark
on the phrase, ``The Net'', in relation to computer communications
and messaging services.
The basis of our opposition is that
for quite some time,
``The Net'' has been used as a common and generic term
for the Internet or cyberspace.

EFC members may want to read more about an EFC-sponsored Symposium titled
Free Speech and Privacy in the Information Age
(held November 26, 1994).
The keynote address was given by the Honourable Mr. Justice
John Sopinka
of the Supreme Court of Canada.
His talk was entitled "Freedom of Speech and the Protection of
Privacy under the *Charter* in the Information Age".

In their March '95 issue,
Wired Magazine
carried a well-written article about
Canada's Thought Police.
It documents the impact of Canada's vague pornography laws
on operators of computer bulletins boards.